Map of Northern Arabia: in Illustration of Lady Anne Blunt’s Journeys

Description

This map shows the routes of two Arabian journeys taken in the late 1870s by Lady Anne Blunt (1837–1917) and her husband, the poet Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (1840–1922). Lady Anne was a skilled equestrienne and horse breeder, who purchased Arabian horses from Bedouin tribesmen, which she then had transported back to England. Her work did much to establish the Arabian breed in Britain. In 1878, Lady Anne journeyed from Beirut, across northern Syria, and south through Mesopotamia to Baghdad. From there she traveled north along the Tigris River and west across the desert to the Mediterranean port of Alexandretta (present-day İskenderun, Turkey). In 1879, she again set out from Beirut, but traveled south through the Emirate of Jabal Shammar, reached its capital of Hā’il, across the Arabian Peninsula, and continued to the port of Būshehr (present-day Iran). The map indicates cities and other geographic features, cultural landmarks, pilgrimage and caravan routes, and Bedouin migratory routes. Also shown are the areas where particular tribes settled for the winter months, the location of desert wells, and the boundaries between hostile tribes. Lady Anne later published two books based on her travels, Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates (1879) and A Pilgrimage to Nejd (1881).